https://novelcool.info/chapter/Chapter-337-Wu-Ming-Island-s-Warning-to-Lu-Xiaofeng/12536555/
https://novelcool.info/chapter/Chapter-339-A-Chance-Encounter-with-the-Four-Wives/12536557/
Chapter 338: Tang Tianyi, Who Has Traveled All Over the Central Plains
Chapter 338: Tang Tianyi, Who Has Traveled All Over the Central Plains
Lu Xiaofeng waited for ten long and lonely days.
Not only did the peerless swordsman who had killed Jia Leshan not show up, but even the expert with the finger-knife technique failed to make an appearance. If it weren't for the obvious presence of Ouyang Yue and Jia Leshan's corpses, he might have thought he had imagined the whole thing.
"Where are they?" Lu Xiaofeng grumbled, "Am I so insignificant to them?"
"Why do you sound like a scorned lover?" Su Shaoying asked, "Which do you love more, Xue Bing or this mysterious organization?"
Lu Xiaofeng shot Su Shaoying a glare, "If you weren't curious about them, why are you still here?"
"Why do you think I'm still here?" Su Shaoying countered with a smile.
Lu Xiaofeng shuddered at the affectionate look in Su Shaoying's eyes and quickly turned to Ma Xiuzhen, "Keep an eye on your senior brother. He's the future leader of Emei!"
Ma Xiuzhen chuckled but still turned to Su Shaoying and asked, "Why hasn't that expert come looking for Lu Xiaofeng?"
"It's simple," Su Shaoying replied, "because he doesn't consider Lu Xiaofeng a threat."
The group scoffed, not believing Su Shaoying's words.
While Lu Xiaofeng's fame might not have reached every corner of the martial arts world, his reputation was formidable. Countless experts had fallen to his Lingxi Finger technique, and even Ye Gucheng and Ximen Chuixue would never underestimate him.
Woodsman, a renowned master of Wudang, was Lu Xiaofeng's longtime friend, and when faced with a perplexing situation, the leader of Emei, Du Guoyihe, had immediately sought out Lu Xiaofeng for help.
In this world, no one had the right to disregard Lu Xiaofeng.
But Su Shaoying knew he was speaking the truth, at least in the early stages of the 'Phoenix Dances in the Nine Heavens' storyline. Gong Jiu truly hadn't considered Lu Xiaofeng a concern.
So, perhaps that was why Gong Jiu hadn't sought out Lu Xiaofeng after killing Jia Leshan. He had killed Jia Leshan for revealing the secrets and map of the Unnamed Island, but he had no reason to kill Lu Xiaofeng. Thus, he had simply used Jia Leshan's corpse to frighten him.
If Lu Xiaofeng was scared off, then so be it. If not, he could always kill him later when he went to the Unnamed Island.
That was how confident Gong Jiu was!
...
And so, Lu Xiaofeng left once again, grumbling all the way. With the 15th of September drawing near, he had no intention of going out to sea.
Xue Bing wanted to leave with Lu Xiaofeng, but unfortunately, someone from the Divine Needle Xue family came for her, and she had to return home reluctantly.
On Su Shaoying's side, Ouyang Qing had already left for the capital a few days ago, so he was now left with only Ma Xiuzhen.
"Right, there's something I've been meaning to ask you," Su Shaoying said.
"What is it?" Ma Xiuzhen inquired.
"Before you left the mountain, did your senior brother return?" Su Shaoying asked.
"No," Ma Xiuzhen replied, "Senior Brother rarely returns to the north. He has friends in the Hebei region and isn't in a hurry, so he won't be coming back so soon. Moreover..."
"Moreover, what?"
"Moreover, with Ye Gucheng and Ximen Chuixue about to duel in the capital, he wouldn't want to miss that," Ma Xiuzhen said, "As a fellow swordsman, how could he not witness their battle?"
Su Shaoying couldn't help but roll his eyes. Although he knew Zhang Yingfeng didn't need to enter the Imperial City again, he couldn't predict how the situation would develop, so it was better to be safe and meet up with him in the capital sooner rather than later.
"Having a sect to back you up isn't always a good thing," he muttered, "Sometimes, you end up having to play babysitter to your fellow disciples."
"Yes, let's go. There's not much else to do here," Su Shaoying replied.
And so, the two of them left Jinling and traveled north. They had just crossed the Huai River when they encountered Tang Tianyi.
Su Shaoying felt that he and the Tang Clan were truly destined to cross paths frequently.
"Brother Tang, aren't you in Lingnan? What brings you back to Huabei?" Su Shaoying asked.
Tang Tianyi's expression was somewhat gloomy.
Each time he met Su Shaoying, he would tell him that he was close to capturing the group of lamas from Daxueshan Temple, that he was about to finish them off. Yet, every time they met again, he had failed to accomplish his goal.
Therefore, Tang Tianyi really did not want to see Su Shaoying at this moment.
But ironically, what you fear is what you attract. Just as he had been tracking the trail of those lamas across the Huai River, he encountered Su Shaoying once more, and this time, there was another person with him.
Upon seeing Ma Xiuzhen's attire, Tang Tianyi realized that she, too, was a disciple of Emei.
Su Shaoying made the introductions, and Tang Tianyi maintained his manners as a scion of a prestigious clan. After exchanging greetings, he explained, "I apologize for my failure, Brother Su. I'm not quite sure what those lamas are thinking. After leaving Pingnan Wang's mansion, instead of heading to the Hainan Sword Sect, they've turned north once more."
"Moreover, this time, they're not heading back to the Tibetan border through Sichuan. Instead, they entered the Jiangnan region, crossed the river at Anqing, and are now heading straight toward the capital," Tang Tianyi continued, his face darkening.
"Could they also be going to witness the duel between Ye Gucheng and Ximen Chuixue? They practice the Buddhist Maha Mudra, not sword techniques," Ma Xiuzhen asked curiously.
"I'm not sure," Tang Tianyi replied, his expression grim. "I suspect they may have reached an agreement with the Hainan Sword Sect, but they dare not return to Tibet through Sichuan. Instead, they plan to leave through Datong or Yanmen and then take a longer route through Qinghai to reach Tibet."
One had to admit that Tang Tianyi was quite confident in his clan's reputation. He believed that the Tang Clan's formidable influence had intimidated the Daxueshan Temple, causing them to avoid their original route.
"I see," Su Shaoying nodded in understanding. "So, Brother Tang, are you planning to get ahead of them and block their path?"
Tang Tianyi shook his head. "Those lamas are cunning and deceitful. Who knows if they might change their route again? I've already sent word to others to take a longer route north, and I'll continue to tail them."
Just then, a team of horse-drawn carriages passed by sparsely on the official road. Tang Tianyi's eyes narrowed, and he cupped his hands toward Su Shaoying and Ma Xiuzhen before his figure seemed to merge with the wind, lightly trailing behind the carriages.
"What remarkable lightness skill!" Ma Xiuzhen exclaimed. "The Tang Clan is famous in the martial arts world for their hidden weapons, but their lightness skill is also exceptional."
"If a hidden weapon expert's lightness skill isn't good, they would have been killed in close combat long ago," Su Shaoying laughed. "These are hard lessons learned. The Tang Clan has dominated Sichuan for hundreds of years, so how could their lightness skill be lacking?"
Not only was the Tang Clan's lightness skill superb, but their movements were also well-suited for launching hidden weapons. Thus, the most suitable skill for oneself was indeed the best.
Ma Xiuzhen did not know about the grudge between the Tang Clan and Daxueshan Temple, so Su Shaoying briefly explained it to her.
Ma Xiuzhen couldn't help but smile. "So, Tang Tianyi has been chasing those lamas all over the Central Plains?"
From Sichuan, they had traveled down the river to Jiangnan, then crossed the Wuling Mountains to Lingnan. Now, they were crossing the Huai River, heading toward the capital. Surely they wouldn't follow them further into Shanxi and Shaanxi, then turn toward Gansu and Long, would they?
Su Shaoying smiled. "If you want to know if they're going to Guanzhong, just follow him and find out."
(End of Chapter)
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